Arsenal 2005 FA Cup Final

Arsenal
0-0 Man Utd (Arsenal win 5-4 after pens. and ET)

21st May 2005

FA Cup Final 2005, Millennium
Stadium, Cardiff. Kick off 3:00 PM.

The two biggest teams in English football went head-to-head in a
final for the first time in 26 years, in this, the oldest and most respected
club cup competition in the world. Much has been said in the gutter press this
morning about how Arsenal were apparently lucky or unworthy winners. Whilst it
may be true that Man Utd had more shots during the game (though not the
possession), Arsenal clearly defended better and had the better keeper in Jens
Lehmann, who silenced his critics with a flawless performance. Luck has played a
large part in deciding many trophies down the years, lest the aggrieved Man Utd
fans need reminding, including the 1999 Champions League Final. Fortune favours
the brave however and perhaps there was even a touch of divine intervention as
Man Utd failed to capitalise on numerous chances.

Arsenal's German No.1 Jens Lehmann should have earned himself
Man of the Match but sadly, keepers rarely do. The only real attention
goalkeepers get is when they and the defence in front of them leak goals. It was
of course the first FA Cup Final to be decided on penalties after 2 hours of
football proved goalless. Of course I'm biased but I have to disagree with those
who say it is no way to decide a final. If neither team can score then neither
team wanted the result badly enough to ensure penalties are avoided. Arsenal,
Man Utd and England supporters have had their fair share of penalty ups and
downs and if it really is down to luck (a ridiculous idea, penalties are a test
of skill and nerve) then it all evens itself out in the end.

Rational discussion aside, there is a part of me that is glad if
Man Utd feel that we don't deserve it. We weren't there to prove we were the
better team. It was easy to forget that Arsenal have been ravaged by injuries
and are in the middle of a very difficult period of change that will eventually
see Arsene Wenger's team for the future assembled and the move to
Ashburton Grove complete. No, Arsenal's job yesterday was to grind out a result
and that they did. Without panache, without style but ultimately with guts and
just a little bit of luck. Wenger's task was to get one over on his counterpart,
Ferguson
and ensure that Man Utd have a fruitless season. Oh, and to wind up the most
miserable man in football since Marvin the Paranoid Android had a trial for
Tottenham. Mission accomplished!

Of the match itself there isn't much to write about. We watched
the game in a tiny, crowded members-only club on Blackstock Road. A cramped,
non-descript place I never knew existed until yesterday. £5 entrance fee was a
bargain at the time and indeed Nici and I were the last allowed in, just 20
minutes before kick-off, all the best pubs from Highbury to Finsbury Park long
since locked up. So for 2 hours, we caught glimpses of the ridiculously
tiny screen whilst shouting, screaming, swearing and getting more beer on our
heads than down our throats.